Night Continent.
There was a country known as Domani, it was an extremely large country that was said to have a long history of peace which was extremely rare on this dangerous continent.
However that country was now in middle of a war.
It all started when the late king was killed in broad daylight in the streets of the capital.
The culprit was none other than the king’s son. Of course, the prince was killed on sight as well.
It was after he was killed that a problem arose.
The prince was the rightful heir for the throne, now with him dead there was no one to take the open position of king.
This caused a strife to develop between the several distant relatives of the dead king.
A civil war broke to decide who would become king.
In this hell, a single person walked casually without any tension whatsoever.
They were dressed in a black suit, wore white gloves, a silver ring with the word "Joker" engraved on it and a jester mask with a black spades in the center of the forehead .
Their gender was impossible to figure from their physique alone.
They walked towards the palace which was currently in flames.
The moment they approached the gate, they disappeared and reappeared in the palace.
They past countless burning corpses on the ground as well as people trying to flee the flames.
A woman who was screaming while she was engulfed in flames ran towards them.
She ran and ran until she ran right past them as if they didn’t exist.
The person didn’t mind it because they made it that no one could perceive them.
They continued to walk until they stood in front of a large door.
They pushed it open and entered it. The moment they did, they saw a man trembling in a corner.
“Duke.”
The person spoke. Their voice was also ambiguous.
“Black Joker!”
When the man saw the person called Black Joker, he immediately got to his feet.
“W-What’s the meaning of this?! Look what happened to the country!”
“I’ve seen it. I can’t believe that such a beautiful country has been reduced to this.”
“Damn you! You’re the one who caused this and now you’re acting like it has nothing to do with you!”
The duke shouted.
“That’s because it really has nothing to do with me.”
“What?!”
“I only did what you told me and killed the king and the prince. I did nothing more. This country's downfall was caused by the incompetence of the people in charge. They got drowned in their own greed and ambitions and it led to their demise.”
“Silence! You knew that this was going to happen yet you disappeared the moment you finished your assassination!”
“You only ordered the king and crown prince’s assassination. You never requested my advice on how to successfully capture the throne. If you had paid extra I would’ve gladly done so. In the end you can only blame your own incompetence.”
“Y-You!”
The duke was red with anger.
“Enough of that, Duke. I’m here to collect my pay.”
Black Joker said as he stretched out his hand.
“Pay? I’m not paying you a damn thing you demon!”
“Not paying?”
Black Joker brought his hand back to his side.
“Are you serious about that, Duke?”
“Yes! I’m dead serious! Get lost!”
Black Joker stayed quiet for a while before speaking again while waving a finger.
“No, no, no, no, no. That won’t do, Duke. We Juggernauts have a code. We must be paid one way or the other.”
“I said I’m not paying! What legendary mercenaries?! You’re all nothing but a bunch of scums!”
In front of the duke’s insults, Black Joker remained calm and didn’t show any signs of anger.
“I see. You insist on not paying.”
“How many times do I have to say the same thing?!”
“I see….Then I’ll just take the country as payment.”
“Eh?”
Before the Duke could react he was blown away by a powerful gust. When he looked up he saw Black Joker floating in the sky.
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Black Joker stretched their palm towards the ground.
A rune suddenly appeared in the center of the country.
“Snatch.”
They closed their palm and the country itself suddenly vanished into thin air.
“Payment collected.”
Black Joker landed back on the ground after saying that.
They suddenly took out a phone and dialed a number.
“Good work, Boss.”
The moment the call connected the person on the other side of the phone, praised them.
“I take it that you've received the payment.”
Said Black Joker.
“Yes. You got the entire country just like you said you would. That’s pretty amazing.”
The person praised.
“Ah, yes. Boss, it’s about Rihan.”
“Is he dead?”
Black Joker immediately asked.
“No. Why do you two always ask if the other is dead when I mention your names?”
“Tsk.”
“Did you just clicked your tongue because your friend and comrade isn’t dead? What’s wrong with you two? Are you really best friends?”
“Yeah. We just made a bet a couple centuries ago on who’s gong to kick the bucket first. The winner will be able to claim the loser’s wealth as well as the right to dance on the other’s grave.”
“Again. Are you two really friends?”
“Never mind that. What about him?”
“He said that he’s going home for a while.”
“Home? Ah, I heard that things were getting rowdy in his home country. So what’s the problem?”
“What’s the problem? Did you forget that we have a big job coming up? We’re suppose to instigate a war between Olympias and Camelot, remember?
“Oh, I forgot about that.”
Said Black Joker.
“This isn’t a joke, Boss! We’re facing the biggest human empire, Olympias headed by Conquering King Guzan, and the military powerhouse nation of Camelot headed by Perfect Queen Maya! It’s Alexander the Great and Arthur Pendragon proxies, you know! A war on this level will plunge the entire world into chaos! One wrong move and we all could get wiped out! If one of our leaders leave now we’ll be at a great disadvantage!”
“Calm down, Eden.”
Black Joker took off his mask and revealed his handsome face and beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair.
“We can handle it ourselves with just the 9 of us. 10 if we make you replace Rihan.”
“That’s impossible. I can’t control Rihan’s Red Order, it would be fine if it was your Black Order.”
“I’ll keep everyone under check, you just need to be yourself. You’re my wife as well as my trump card after all.”
“……….”
Eden didn’t say anything and remained silent.
“Besides, I’m the Warmonger Julian, and Loki’s Proxy. Who can start a war better than I can?”
Julian drew a card from his jacket.
It was a card of a black joker.
He let it go and made it land on the plot that used to be Domani country.
He smiled mischievously and said-
“Just sit back and watch me plunge the world into chaos.”
Somewhere in the Silver Continent.
There was a tavern that was rather rowdy. This tavern was filled with all kinds of people.
From thugs to prostitutes to mercenaries.
In this bar, a single youth sat at a table by himself in the corner.
This youth had purple hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face with a playful look on it.
This person was Aeon Dragna.
He was drinking a glass of hard liquor while silently observing everyone in the room.
He suddenly stopped drinking and narrowed his eyes.
“It’s about to start.”
The moment he said that the bartender who was enjoying the attention she was getting from the drunken men suddenly scrawled.
“Who are you calling ugly, you bald bitch?!”
She took a bottle of liquor and broke it over the head of a nearby woman.
No one around her showed any reaction to her action but instead also committed similar acts of violence.
A thug stabbed his friend in the eyes with a knife.
A prostitute bite off the ear of a client.
A waitress started strangling one of her colleagues.
Before you knew it everyone in the tavern was trying to kill each other.
Only Aeon was exempt from this.
He sighed and watched all the people in the bar suffer horrible deaths at each other’s hands.
When there was only one person left, that person took up a knife and slit their own throat.
Silence covered the bar as Aeon continued to drink unbothered.
“How boring.”
He finally said after a while.
“Hm?”
It was then that the entrance opened and someone walked in.
Seeing this person Aeon place his glass on the table.
The person spotted him and walked towards him with a smile.
“You need to start suppressing your Malignancy when we’re having our meetings. Even I get bored if I’m forced to watch the same scene repeat itself over and over again.”
“Sorry, sorry. With you being who you are I thought you would love it.”
The person said as they took a seat.
“I mean, you are my son after all.”
The person who sat in front of Aeon had azure and purple hair, a handsome but devilish face, sharp eyes filled with bloodlust, and a smile that could frighten the devil.
This person was Nero’s youngest son, Miko’s uncle, and Aeon’s father.
The personification of chaotic evil-
THE DEVIL’S JOKER, RIHAN DRAGNA!
“I’m your son, but I’m also my mother’s son.”
Aeon answered with a slight irritated tone.
“You make it sound like your mother is a saint.”
Rihan laughed.
“Trusted me, you’re born from two evils. And evil only breeds more evil.”
He then smirked playfully.
“Isn’t that right, Gremlin?”
Aeon didn’t answer and took a sip of his liquor.
Rihan smiled and stood from his seat. He then walked up to the bar counter that was dripping with blood and body parts.
He took up an empty glass and a bottle of liquor; both which were covered in blood.
He walked with them in his hands and placed them on the table.
“Well, don’t look so irritated. What I said was only the truth.”
He opened the bottle and poured liquor into the glass. The golden liquor gently mixed with the blood in the glass and gave it a new color.
“I mean me and my siblings are great examples. Our father is a monster who plunged the world in chaos over and over again for his own amusement.”
He didn’t hesitate to drink the liquor mixed with blood in the bloodstained glass.
“And our mothers are no different. Kimiko is the world’s #1 assassin, and she gave birth to my psychotic brother. As for my own mother….”
He laughed and took another drink.
“But you’re far worse than Gramps and Nova. You lack any form of compassion whatsoever. You only live to destroy, rebuild and destroy again until you’re satisfied.”
Said Aeon.
“Me worse than my father and brother? Hahaha, that might be true but it might not be too.”
He swirled his liquor in the glass.
“Those two are evil but at the same time they’re not.”
“Then what are they?”
“Humans.”
He said and refilled his glass.
“Calling a person good or evil is stupid in the first place. Humans are far more complicated than that to be so easily defined. Everyone has a side of them that could be considered ‘good’ by many, but they naturally have a side that can be called evil as well. That’s what makes us human. But let’s dwell into it a bit further.”
He put down his glass and stretched out both hands.
“What is good? What is evil? These words have different meanings depending on the person and life they lived. A boy who grew up fighting every day to survive may believe that it is right to crush others to get what you want , does that make him evil? A girl who grew up in a good religious family may think its wrong to kill, does that make her good? Now let's reverse the roles. That same boy also believes that it’s wrong to lie. Does that make him good? Let’s say that same girl believes that all pagans should burn in hell does that make her evil? Now tell me what is good and what is evil.”
Aeon didn’t answer immediately and stayed quiet because he knew that any answer he gave would be declared wrong by his father.
“….Then what about you who declared yourself as evil earlier? Isn’t what you said contradictory to your declaration earlier?”
“It is. But I’m different from my father and brother who still clings on their humanity despite all that they’ve done.”
A wicked smile appeared on his face.
“Instead of clinging on to my humanity, I’m trying to erase it from within me.”
“Why?”
“Because with it, I won’t be able to kill my shitty father.”
Rihan’s eyes gave off an overwhelming bloodlust when he said that.
“I could never understand your desire to kill Gramps.”
“You don’t need to, he knows why.”
Rihan had a weird smile on his face when he said.
“Anyway, let’s get to main reason we’re here…..Tell me about this ‘Miko’ kid.”
Outside the borders of the Dragna kingdom, Miko and the rest of his gang finally reached their destination after 3 days.
Miko stood proudly on the Nemean Armored Vehicle and looked towards his country.
“The King is back baby!”